Ezra and his Time Crisis podcast co-host Jake Longstreth were guests this week on a special episode of R U Talkin' R.E.M. Re: Me.
Shuttlecock and R.E.M. were both discussed, and Ezra said at one point someone told him that VW was the R.E.M. to Arcade Fire's U2, which he said he didn't necessarily agree with but was interested in trying to dissect. Jake said that Arcade Fire and U2 lacked humor and levity, which it seemed like the others corrected him with, I think Ezra or Adam mentioned Pop.
The more interesting thing that Ezra said is that both him and R.E.M./Stipe started off in a weirder, more abstract mode and moved towards a more personal writing style, whereas the other two bands were dealing with grief right at the beginning of their careers and had to find the humor later on, and I think that is a good observation. U2 was obviously better at it than Arcade Fire, though.